Blimey! No sooner do I turn my back and swan off down to Swanage when Bob Crow goes and flatlines it, swiftly followed by that other lefty treasure Tony Benn, and Freedom finally calls it a day and ceases publication after almost 130 years.
We should never have illusions about trade union bosses and no doubt Bob Crow had his faults but he was a working class bruiser of the old school who doggedly fought to protect the pay and conditions of RMT members. I especially liked the fact that Bob was never one to engage in hand wringing about the downtrodden workers but would rather celebrate the good rates of pay that members had won by sticking together and fighting their corner.
Much will be said about Tony Benn over the next few days. Lefties will mourn his passing. Social Democrats will say that he ruined the Labour Party. The Right will say that he would have ruined the country given half a chance. My anarchist comrades will denounce him as just another self serving politician and a toff to boot, fair enough, but I take a more generous view. Benn spoke about a collectivist agenda at a time when it was deeply unfashionable to do so. He always struck me as an amiable old cove and anyone who irritated the power elite as much as he did can't be all bad.
Freedom. What can I say about Freedom? On and off, I read the old rag for well over 40 years and of course I will miss it. There will be an online version, a freesheet and the bookshop will continue as before. I wish the Freedom collective well in the new endeavour.
Oh! Swanage was as wonderful as ever.
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